


Words That Burn

by tornbetweentandj



Category: Andi Mack (TV), Andi Mack - Fandom
Genre: High School AU, M/M, Slow Burn, Soulmate AU, Soulmates, Tyrus - Freeform, but whats new, kind of, kind of one sided Treed, slight homophobia, these boys are dumb, tj is a drama queen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-12 10:40:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19944823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tornbetweentandj/pseuds/tornbetweentandj
Summary: {On your fifth birthday, the first thing your soulmate thinks when they see you appears on your arm. Some are light-hearted and cute, like Cyrus Goodman’s. It made him smile and blush everytime he saw it. TJ Kippen’s however, was something he wished he could erase. It was something that made him hope he’d never meet his soulmate.}





	Words That Burn

Soulmates as a concept sounds like a nice thing. Knowing who you’re supposed to be with? Going through your life on a journey to find them? It sounds like something straight out of a fairytale. Having the first thing your soulmate thinks when they see you on your arm also sounds like a nice thing. It could be sweet: like about how beautiful you are, or how nice you seem. It could be funny: like them thinking you have a nice butt. But sometimes, your soulmate’s words can be like T.J. Kippen’s. And that’s...not so nice. TJ Kippen hated the words on his arm. Every time he saw them, it felt like they were burning into his skin.

**“I hate TJ. How could he be so mean? And so...scary….”**

If the words weren’t bad enough, they were in a messy, jagged handwriting. His soulmate not only hated him.

_They were scared of him._

Because not only do the words tell you how someone feels about you, the way it’s written does too. His soulmate’s writing was of someone who was frightened...What could he have possibly done to make his soulmate that scared of him?

Those words have given him problems since they first appeared. The words on someone’s arm are a great way to know about their personality and who they are as a person. People judged you based on what was on your arm. So with what TJ has on his, he always had a hard time. The kids at school wouldn’t play with him, and his teacher always kept an extra eye on him. His classmates would call him a bully without him having done _anything_. No one would be his friend. They saw the words on his arm and instantly judged him. They immediately labeled him as mean without even getting to know him. I mean, who could blame them? His soulmate thought he was mean and scary in the future, so he probably was. Something like that on you arm is bound to get people to judge you.

As the years progressed, he’d started to get irritable and snippy. He’d begun to play not so harmless pranks on people. And he would maybe, just maybe, start to talk back to the teachers. He began getting into a lot of trouble. He was actually becoming the words on his arm-becoming what everyone else already thought he was.

At the age of 11 he got sent to the principal’s office for the for what had been the 3rd time that year-for trying to pick a fight with another one of the boys in his class who called him a not so nice name. Just because he didn’t have crushes on his girl classmates like everyone else did, didn’t mean they could call him names? It didn’t make sense to TJ.

When he walked into the main office, he saw another boy outside the principal’s office, sat in one of 3 plastic chairs lined up against the wall. He had dirty blond hair that covered up part of his eyes, and the smile he gave TJ when he saw him was friendly. He was wearing a red shirt with dirt bikes all over it. TJ thought he looked so cool.

“Hi! I’m Reed.” The boy said, as TJ sat down beside him. “Whatcha in for?”

“I tried to start a fight with someone…” TJ replied, looking down at the floor. For some reason he was really nervous about talking to this boy.

“What about?” Reed seemed genuinely curious. “Um...he called me…gay…” TJ said quietly. TJ knew what it meant. And he was scared to say it.

Reed’s eyes got a bit wide and then he whispered, “That sucks. Good for you for sticking up for yourself though.” He smiled that friendly smile again and TJ know he’d want to be friends with Reed.

“So what are you in for?” TJ asked, but Reed didn’t get a chance to answer.

The boys jumped at the booming voice calling Reed into the principal’s office. Reed quickly looked over at TJ and said “You can meet me by the slide at recess today so I can tell you about it.” TJ smiled and agreed to meet him at the side. He couldn’t wait for recess. He had finally made a friend.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Fast forward to freshman year. TJ and Reed were the best of friends. They had even gained a new friend by the name of Lester. They stuck together. And the best part about their friendship was the fact that neither of them judged TJ for the words on his arm. They told him it made him look tough. Things were going well for him. No one looked down on him anymore, people talked to him, and he had friends. The thoughts of what was on his arm would sneak up from the back of his mind once in a while, but he’d just push them back.

By his sophomore year, TJ came to the realization that he was gay. He realized that him wanting to be friends with Reed back when he was 11, was definitely..kind of a crush. Well, whatever a crush was back in elementary school. He had wanted to be friends with him, but him thinking he was so cool like that was a bit much he realized. Up to this point, TJ was able to keep the words out of the main part of his mind mostly. But the realization that he was gay, made him think about those thoughts even more. Now he was thinking about soulmates. Specifically his soulmate. Through the past few years, him and his family had tried to keep his soulmate’s thought hidden. He’d wear long sleeves if he could, and would even sometimes put makeup over it to cover it. TJ had stopped doing that this week though.

Sometimes he would just sit on his bed late at night staring at it. Thinking. What is he going to do? This person is his soulmate. But he can’t just put someone through this. Through him. His soulmate was scared of him. He couldn’t be with him-for his soulmate’s sake, and his own. It would break his heart and it would never work out. All of these thoughts were running through his head.

Then it hit him. He just wouldn’t be with his soulmate. If he happened to run into them one day, he just wouldn’t fall in love. Simple. That last though made his heart drop. But if it was what he had to do-he’d do it. He couldn’t-wouldn’t- be with someone who hated him. It’s common sense right?

He lay back and let out a sigh. He just stared at his ceiling fan for a few moments, watching it go round and round until the blades seemed to turn into one object. It reminded him of his records. His records were his only solace when he was having a hard time. He got up from his bed and made his way over to his record player. It was set up on a small wooden desk a few feet away from his bed. It was about 40 years old and not in the best of shape. But it was his. In a wooden box underneath the desk, there were 30 or so records. He began to flip through them, pausing each time to feel the old paper on his fingertips. His collection included Queen, Nirvana, Springsteen, and Bowie. Bowie was his favorite. The lyrics were a bit hard for him to understand but he could feel the emotion. He grabbed The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, then carefully pulled it out of it’s sleeve and put it on the record player. He knew exactly where to put the needle so it’d play his favorite song: Starman. He went back to lay on his bed. The music helped calm his heart, but not his mind. He thought this new plan was a good decision. Just don’t fall in love with your soulmate. It couldn’t be too hard. Who would like him anyway?

Everything was going to plan…

Until senior year.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry if this is bad! It's only my second fic! I appreciate feedback :)


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